A resolution of the paradox of enrichment
نویسندگان
چکیده
Theoretical studies have shown a paradoxical destabilizing response of predator–prey ecosystems to enrichment, but there is the gap between the intuitive view of nature and this theoretical prediction. We studied a minimal predator–prey system (a two predator–two prey system) in which the paradox of enrichment pattern can vanish; the destabilization with enrichment is reversed, leading to stabilization (a decrease in the amplitude of oscillation of population densities). For resolution of the paradox, two conditions must be met: (1) the same prey species must be preferred as a dietary item by both predator species, creating the potential for high exploitative competition between the predator species, and (2), while both predators are assumed to select their diet in accordance with optimal diet utilization theory, one predator must be a specialist and the other a generalist. In this system, the presence of a less profitable prey species can cause the increase in population oscillation amplitudes associated with increasing enrichment to be suppressed via the optimal diet utilization of the generalist predator. The resulting stabilization is explained by the mitigating effect of the less profitable prey showing better population growth with increasing enrichment on the destabilization underlying the specialist predator and prey relation, thus resolving the paradox of enrichment. r 2007 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
منابع مشابه
Discretization of a fractional order ratio-dependent functional response predator-prey model, bifurcation and chaos
This paper deals with a ratio-dependent functional response predator-prey model with a fractional order derivative. The ratio-dependent models are very interesting, since they expose neither the paradox of enrichment nor the biological control paradox. We study the local stability of equilibria of the original system and its discretized counterpart. We show that the discretized system, which is...
متن کاملA Resolution of the Paradox of Enrichment
Theoretical studies have shown a paradoxical destabilizing response of predator-prey ecosystems to enrichment, but there is the gap between the intuitive view of nature and this theoretical prediction. We studied a minimal predator-prey system (a two predator-two prey system) in which the paradox of enrichment pattern can vanish; the destabilization with enrichment is reversed, leading to stabi...
متن کاملThe paradox of enrichment in an adaptive world.
Paradoxically, enrichment can destabilize a predator-prey food web. While adaptive dynamics can greatly influence the stability of interaction systems, few theoretical studies have examined the effect of the adaptive dynamics of interaction-related traits on the possibility of resolution of the paradox of enrichment. We consider the evolution of attack and defence traits of a predator and two p...
متن کاملBertrand’s Paradox Revisited: More Lessons about that Ambiguous Word, Random
The Bertrand paradox question is: “Consider a unit-radius circle for which the length of a side of an inscribed equilateral triangle equals 3 . Determine the probability that the length of a ‘random’ chord of a unit-radius circle has length greater than 3 .” Bertrand derived three different ‘correct’ answers, the correctness depending on interpretation of the word, random. Here we employ geomet...
متن کامل